FIRST ON FOX: Conservative CNN pundit Scott Jennings is being privately and publicly inspired to run for Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell’s open Senate seat in 2026, sources, together with a Republican operative accustomed to the race, instructed Fox Information Digital Wednesday.
Some conservative personalities floated the likelihood publicly on X. The pundit is thought for his advocacy of the Trump administration on the airwaves, and he frequently goes viral for debating liberal pundits on the cable tv community.
He served as a longtime advisor to the outgoing Kentucky senator and beforehand labored within the George W. Bush administration.
“Could I nominate [Scott Jennings] for the United States Senate from the Commonwealth of Kentucky? He’d be a hell of a McConnell replacement,” pundit Erick Erickson tweeted.
CNN’s Scott Jennings (CNN)
“I would absolutely support my friend [Scott Jennings] for U.S. Senate. But he’d also make a fine governor for the great state of Kentucky as well,” Republican strategist Dustin Grage tweeted.
As for McConnell, the previous Senate majority chief stated final week he wouldn’t search one other time period, leaving the door vast open for contenders in 2026.
Senate Minority Chief Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., arrives on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., for a gathering with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in regards to the struggle effort in opposition to Russia Sept. 26. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)
“Seven times, my fellow Kentuckians have sent me to the Senate,” McConnell, who first took workplace in 1985, stated on the Senate flooring whereas saying his retirement.
“Every day in between, I’ve been humbled by the trust they’ve placed in me to do their business here. Representing our commonwealth has been the honor of a lifetime. I will not seek this honor an eighth time. My current term in the Senate will be my last,” he added.
Former Kentucky Lawyer Normal Daniel Cameron has already entered the race, and Rep. Andy Barr can also be mulling a bid. Cameron ran for governor in 2023, however he narrowly misplaced to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear.
Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, left, and former Republican Kentucky Lawyer Normal Daniel Cameron (Getty Pictures)
In a current marketing campaign video, Cameron talked about McConnell by identify for voting in opposition to the nominations of Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth, Director of Nationwide Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Well being and Human Companies Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
“You should expect a senator from Kentucky to vote for those nominees to advance the ‘America first’ agenda,” Cameron stated.
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Neither Trump nor McConnell have introduced an endorsement within the race.
Fox Information Digital reached out to Jennings however didn’t obtain remark.
